Month: January 2026

As a Registered Dietitian, I specialize in helping people lose weight and keep it off. And here’s one of the biggest truths I’ve learned over time: Weight loss isn’t just about what you take out of your diet. It’s also about what you put in.

So, when someone tells me:

• I’m eating fewer calories, but I still can’t lose weight.
• No matter what I cut out, the scale never budges.
• My metabolism feels broken after years of dieting.

My dietitian brain goes straight to this question…

Is their body supported enough to let go of the weight?

Because weight loss is not just a matter of cutting things out.

If you’re not giving your body what it needs to lose the weight, chances are you’ll never be successful.

What Do You Feed Your Body?

When your body is low in key nutrients, several things can happen:

• Gut health suffers and this affects digestion, inflammation, and how well you absorb nutrients.
• Your brain struggles to regulate your appetite and cravings, and you often feel unsatisfied.
• Your metabolism slows as your body tries to conserve energy.
• Organs don’t function optimally. This includes your liver, thyroid, and pancreas – all critical for weight regulation.

In other words, if your body is under-fueled or stressed, it will resist weight loss – no matter how little you eat.

Targeted Nutritional Support

From a professional standpoint, this is why I recommend targeted nutritional support, not just cutting foods out.

While I wish we could get everything we need from food alone, the reality is:

• Our food supply is less nutrient-dense than it used to be.
• Stress increases our nutritional needs.
• Many people eat less while trying to lose weight, making it even harder to get the nutrients their minds and bodies need to function properly and let the weight go.

Strategic supplementation can help fill these gaps – supporting the gut, the brain, metabolism, and the systems that allow weight loss to happen more easily.

One supplement I’ve been suggesting more often in my practice is a product called LEAN, because it supports some of the most common gaps I see – particularly around blood sugar balance, appetite regulation, fat burning, and metabolic support.

For many people, LEAN also helps calm the constant “food noise” that makes weight loss feel like a daily battle – not by forcing appetite suppression, but by supporting the systems that regulate hunger and satiety.

For others, a broader foundation makes more sense – which is where a Weight Management System comes in. This approach supports not just metabolism but also gut and brain health and daily nutrient needs that are often overlooked during weight loss.

Supplements I Trust at Prices I Can Afford

I’ll be honest – it took me years to find a company whose products I trust enough to recommend. As a dietitian, I’m very picky about what I put in my body and what I suggest to the people I care about.

Quality matters but so does affordability. Supplements can get expensive quickly.

That’s why I love having a way for people to access these products at wholesale pricing, without inflated retail markups.

The supplements I recommend are the ones I use for myself and recommend to my family, friends, and clients. They’re made with high-quality, premium ingredients, and I love that they’re third-party tested for purity and potency. I’ve been recommending them so much I became an affiliate.

You can check out the products and ingredients – and the wholesale prices – right here.

And if you have questions or comments, let’s chat!

P.S. If you’re using a GLP-1 medication, your appetite may be lower, but your nutritional needs may be greater. In fact, nutrient gaps can become more common. Recent studies have shown that nutritional deficiencies and muscle loss are serious concerns. This is where targeted supplementation can help.

P.P.S. – As always, consult with your healthcare provider before starting any new supplement.

Questions for You:

What’s most difficult for you when it comes to weight loss? Have you wondered why dieting doesn’t work?

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Originally posted at: Salley Carson’s White Sleeveless Collared Dress

I’ll soon turn 79. That means I’m not “approaching” 80 – I’m entering my 80th year.

And I’m doing so with energy, clarity, and a sense of forward momentum – not diminishing.

For many women, birthdays ending in zero can feel sobering. For me, this one feels expansive. Not because life is simpler (it isn’t), or because change has slowed (it hasn’t), but because I’m clearer than ever about how I want to live – now and in the years to come.

Thriving Isn’t an Age – It’s an Intention

Last year, I wrote about how I was thriving in reFirement – not retirement. Those five F words are even more important to me now: family, fulfillment, fun, friends, and fitness.

Since then, my life has evolved. I’ve moved into a continuing care retirement community (CCRC), embraced a new rhythm of daily living, and entered a chapter focused on redirecting rather than stepping back.

Here’s what’s surprised me most: thriving at this age and stage isn’t about staying busy or proving vitality. It’s about intentionality –choosing what matters and releasing what doesn’t.

Turning Intention into Action

Last year, I set a Big Grin Goal that felt both practical and deeply personal: to begin transitioning to a CCRC before my 80th birthday. I aimed to relocate from a position of strength, choice, and curiosity – not urgency.

I reached my goal earlier than planned, and what I discovered was unexpected. Rather than feeling like a retreat from my previous home, this move has brought renewed energy. Having future health care needs carefully planned has eased a quiet layer of concern. This wasn’t about downsizing my life. It was about right-sizing it.

Entering my 80th year, I feel less pressure to do everything and more freedom to do what’s meaningful.

Living a New Chapter, Lightly Held

Living in a community where meal preparation, home maintenance, and future health care are addressed has freed up something precious: mental bandwidth.

I’m not preoccupied with “what ifs.” Instead, I’m more present for “what nows.”

That doesn’t mean my days are quiet or my calendar empty. Quite the opposite. It means my energy is better directed toward writing, mentoring, building friendships, lifelong learning, and creative projects that light me up. The setting supports my life, rather than competing with it.

And importantly, this move was not an ending. It was a significant new transition. Fun!

The Power of a Big Grin Goal

Each year, I set what I call a Big Grin Goal – something that stretches me just enough to spark joy, purpose, and maybe a little nervous excitement.

For the upcoming year, my Big Grin Goal is deeply personal and quietly ambitious: to complete a revised edition of Moving Forward on Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows, which I originally wrote several years ago, after my husband’s death. This new edition will include a section called “The Journey Continues,” highlighting the wisdom that develops after major life transitions.

This isn’t about revisiting the past. It’s about honoring how much life unfolds after major transitions – and how much wisdom we gain along the way as elders.

What matters here isn’t just the project itself, but what it symbolizes: a belief that creative contribution never expires and that meaningful work can stay with us well into later life.

My Energy Looks Different – and That’s Good

Let me be clear: entering my 80th year doesn’t mean I feel 50. Nor do I aspire to. What I feel is grounded.

My energy today is more selective and less scattered. I say yes more thoughtfully – and no more easily. I value deep conversations over busy schedules, progress over perfection, and purpose over speed.

This isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing what fits.

Redefining What “Forward” Means

We often measure aging by what we lose – roles, speed, familiarity. But there is another measure: what we gain.

For me, moving forward at this stage of life isn’t about speed or distance. It’s about direction.

Perspective. Patience. Self-trust.

I’m more comfortable living with uncertainty now than I was decades ago. I know that life will keep changing and evolving, and that I can change with it.

Entering my 80th year, I’m not focused on how long I’ll live. I’m focused on how well I’ll live, and how consciously I’ll choose my days.

A Gentle Invitation

If you’re nearing a milestone birthday – or simply sensing a transition of your own – I invite you to pause and ask:

• What does thriving look like now?
• What would it mean to live your next chapter intentionally?
• What is one Big Grin Goal that could energize the year ahead?

It doesn’t have to be large or public. It just needs to matter to you.

The Journey Continues

Aging, I’ve learned, isn’t about winding down – it’s about opening up. Clarifying what matters. Letting go of what no longer helps. Staying curious. Staying involved.

As I enter my 80th year, I do so not with a checklist, but with a posture – open, intentional, and grateful for the journey that continues to unfold.

And that, to me, feels like thriving.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What’s one intentional choice – or Big Grin Goal – you’d like to set for the year ahead?

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Originally posted at: Heather Gay’s Light Blue Draped Sleeveless Dress and Shell Bag

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Originally posted at: Britani Bateman’s Pink Strapless Ruched Maxi Dress